Safe and Supportive Schools (DOE)

Emotionally Responsive Practice at Bank Street provides ongoing professional development and on-site consultation to early childhood and elementary school program collaborators. Schools and agencies may contract with Bank Street to provide one or more of the services listed below. Department of Education users may contract with Bank Street to provide services through our Department of Education Safe and Supportive Schools Requirements Contract.

ERP is authorized as a vendor for the Safe and Supportive Schools DOE Professional Development Requirements Contract.

Under the Safe and Supportive Schools Contract, ERP provides a variety of services for teachers, social workers, administrators and support staff who work with children pre-K through 5th grade. These services include:

Classroom Coaching and Support: Staff work collaboratively with teachers, assistants and early childhood administrators to model and integrate emotionally responsive practice in your school setting.

Seminar Series for Teachers on Emotionally Responsive Practice: A six seminar series for teachers focusing on inviting and containing emotional and social issues in the early childhood classroom.

Seminar Series and Group Supervision for Social Workers: A ten session series for social workers provides school based clinicians with theory and technique for effective interventions with children and parents in the early childhood setting. Alternatively, a monthly social work supervision group can support the clinical skills necessary to meet the challenges of working with teachers, children and families in the school setting.

Emotionally Responsive Practice for Administrators: Seminar series and / or support group to provide administrators with a deep understanding of child development and the relationship between emotional integration and learning. Implications for administrative policies and practices are explored.

Whole School Retreats: Annual whole school retreats on emotionally responsive school routines, adult-child interactions, and use of literacy and responsive curriculum.

Parent Engagement Groups: Ten session series of Parent Engagement Groups co-led by Bank Street and school staff are available to parents of early childhood students. The groups are designed to enhance parents’ ability to help their children thrive emotionally in the school setting. Groups provide parents with the opportunity to reflect on their experiences as parents and as students using an expressive arts format.

Teacher Support Groups: Teacher stress is a very real problem that may negatively impact on the classroom teacher's effective practice. This sixteen session group for teachers offers time and space to diminish the emotional isolation of the classroom and reflect on their experiences with children and parents.

Observation Team Institutes: Institutes offer interdisciplinary teams of professionals including teachers, social workers, early childhood coordinators and administrators an intensive five session training in Emotionally Responsive Practice theory and technique. The Institutes include inter-visitations, opportunity to observe actual classroom practice and post observation seminars.

Small-Group Work With 4-, 5- and 6-Year-Olds: For schools who are involved in ERP professional development series.

Services & Information

Services for Other Partners

ERP at Bank Street works with many non-public schools, early childhood programs, Head Start programs, Early Head Start programs, and sponsoring agencies to support the social and emotional well being of children, teachers, and parents. Ongoing professional development, onsite consultation, parent engagement, and teacher support are available to address:

Core concepts of Emotionally Responsive Practice

Informing routines, interactions, and curriculum

Supporting social and emotional development in the classroom

Understanding and working with traumatized children

Supporting attachment relationships

Creating a balanced classroom with Inviting and Containing Techniques

Using Bibliotherapy in the classroom

Transitional Objects in the classroom to promote attachment, empathy and community